5 a day

Friday, November 21, 2008

hi everyone. if you want to be a part of a family favorites cookbook project that i am doing as a christmas present to you and for myself :) then head over to my blog and read the post from yesterday (Nov. 20th) and join in! so far we already have some delicious recipes submitted and i am thrilled.

*To steam your veggies, chop 'em, throw 'em in a glass bowl, put about a 1/4 of a cup of water in the bottom, throw a paper towel or a washcloth over it and microwave it. Broccolli = 6 min.Crookneck squash = 2-3 min.

DIRECTIONS

Combine 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in medium bowl. In a small bowl, sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons flour over blueberries, and set aside. (This simple trick will keep you from having "purple" batter)

In a large bowl, beat 1/2 cup butter with 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, and stir in vanilla and lemon zest. Fold in dry ingredients alternately with milk. Fold in blueberries. Remember, fold gently, don't stir. Spoon batter into prepared cups.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack. These muffins freeze really well, and re-heat in the microwave successfully. Hope you enjoy!!

Friday, November 14, 2008

I love that there were fresh blueberries!! I made this recipe and changed it from pumpkin to blueberry, and then from pumpkin to banana. Just sub the canned pumpkin for 1/2 C of fruit, and the spice for cinnamon if it matches the fruit you are using. I just omitted it for mine. The muffins were gone by the days end.

Directions 1. Lightly coat twelve 2-1/2-inch muffin cups with cooking spray; set aside. 2. In a large bowl stir together all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center of flour mixture. 3. In a small bowl combine egg, milk, and margarine; stir in pumpkin or fruit. Add all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). 4. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 15 to 18 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from muffin cups. Serve warm. Makes 12 muffins.

Cut tomatoes in half and place face down on a foiled cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for about 45 min. - 1 hour, or until you see the skin coming off the flesh. Take out and let cool. Saute onion/garlic in a little bit of olive oil. Peel skin off the tomatoes so you only have the flesh. Throw tomatoes, onions/garlic, and spices into blender. Blend.

Add any veggies you like to this sauce! Mushrooms and Green Bell Peppers are my favorite. You may have to simmer it a little depending on what veggies you use so they are cooked all the way through.

*If your sauce is too tart, add a little bit of sugar, OR (my fav. and better for you) chop up 1 carrot and sauté with the onions/garlic. It’ll sweeten your sauce.

For the sauce I made the day of the class I cut the tomatoes in half and shoved a baby carrot or two into the tomato halves and then roasted the tomatoes with the carrots inside. Then blend…

*Some people also like to seed or squeeze the juice out of the tomatoes to make a thicker sauce. Seed the tomatoes before you roast them.

*Some people also do a raw sauce. It doesn’t have the rich flavor but it tastes more like fresh tomatoes.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Monday, November 10, 2008

so i know that i am teaching the first cooking class and that we are doing pizza. what i do not know is when and where.it would also be nice to know how many people are planning on coming so that i can judge my dough making accordingly. i think we decided that everyone will bring their own toppings instead of 'sharing the wealth.' so that means bring your own cheese, sauce, and toppings. maybe a few of you guys can go in together if you want similar toppings or sauce. it takes 2 small cans of tomato sauce for one pizza the size of a cookie sheet.or would you rather assign the basics like sauce and cheese to people?one more thing. i think it would be easier for me to teach it at my house. i have a large kitchen with lots of counter space and these are a must when rolling out pizza dough.please leave a comment if you plan on coming and if you know the answers to my questions. i am excited to teach this and also to learn stuff from all of you talented people. thanks.--echo

I found this on Ivillage. com. Cooking Thanksgiving dinner can be very hectic. I found these tips to be very HELPFUL!!

1. There are so many possibilities for dishes to serve. Start by answering these three questions that will narrow your choices down to a manageable number.

How much time do you have?

Do any of your guests have special diets or allergies?

Is there a family favorite dish that must be on the table or it just won't be Thanksgiving?

2. Then, think about taste, texture, temperature and color. The best meals incorporate dishes that complement each other and mix various tastes, textures, temperatures and colors. An example of this, on a small scale, is a crisp green salad, hearty chicken noodle soup and warm bread.

3. Once you've chosen your dishes, write the menu down. This is step one in creating a plan.

4. Print out the recipes you are using and read through them. Read through them again. Decide what can be made ahead and what needs last-minute attention.

5. Write out your shopping list. You may want to spread the items out over a few shopping trips.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

this is originally from a costco cook book my mom has, but i make a few changes to spice things up a bit. made it for dinner last night and i couldn't get my camera out fast enough to take a picture after it was cooked. it's really good.

the original recipe calls for a package of frozen spinach (thawed and drained) but i find that nasty so i make good use of our fresh stuff. it also does not call for the onions, peppers, or sausage and you could make it without, but i think it adds a lot of flavor. i usually make this earlier in the day, keep it in the fridge then cook for 40 minutes around dinner time.

1. pre-heat oven to 350. combine all ingredients- except for pasta sauce and noodles- in a bowl. spread about 1/3 cup of mixture on each lasagna noodle.

2. pour 1/3 cup pasta sauce into a 13x9 baking dish. spread around the bottom. roll-up noodles and place in the dish seam side down.

3. top with remaining sauce and some mozzarella. cover with foil and cook for 35 minutes.

I stole this recipe right off my sister Leslie's Blog!! She used to make wedding cakes. She is a fabulous cook!! I can't wait to make these. HMMMMM.....soon enough.

Sugar Cookies (makes about 3 dozen 2" cookies)

Stir together & set aside:

3 1/4 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt ( just 1/2 teaspoon if you are using salted butter)

Using an electric mixer, beat together until well mixed and fluffy:

1 1/2 cups softened butter (do NOT use margarine because the dough will not firm sufficiently to cut out and release from the wax paper)

1 cup sugar

Add and then beat until blended:

1 large egg

1 tablespoon milk

2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Combine flour mixture with butter mixture and blend well. Divide dough into half and place each portion between two large sheets of wax paper (the size of jelly roll pans or cookie sheets). Roll out a scant 1/4" thick, smoothing out any creases the wax paper makes. Keeping the wax paper in place, put rolled dough onto cookie sheets or jelly roll pans and chill in refrigerator for about 30 minutes or longer until cold and firm.

While dough is chilling, preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease cookie sheets.

Take out just 1 portion at a time, gently peel away each side of wax paper, but replace one of them for dough to lay on. (This will make it easier to lift the cookies from the paper.) Using 2-or 3-inch cutters, cut out cookies quickly and carefully transfer them with a spatula to the cookie sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart. Combine and reroll scraps between wax paper and chill in refrigerator.

Bake for 8-11 minutes, until lightly golden around edges. Let cookies firm for a minute or two on cookie sheets and then transfer them to wire racks to cool.

Quick Vanilla Icing

Thoroughly stir together with electric mixer:

5 cups powdered sugar, measured then sifted

1/3 cup hot water

2 teaspoons light corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

food coloring

This is usually the consistency used to line and decorate the cookies with white borders. I use a Wilton decorating bag and a #2 or #3 round decorating tip. Keep icing covered with a lid or moist washcloth so that it doesn't crust over while you are icing cookies. If necessary, add more water to thin or more powdered sugar to thicken (your icing should nicely flow from the tip as you are quickly working but not be dripping out). Let cookies sit and firm for at least an hour before moving on.

After the cookies are lined with borders, divide the remaining icing into several small bowls to color and thin. A little more water is needed to thin to a runny syrup or oil consistency so that it will flow easily and more quickly from the decorator/candy bottles (these can be found in the cake decorator section at Walmart of JoAnns - usually 2 bottles come together for a little over a dollar).

If adding sprinkles, sprinkle on a minute or so after icing is put on (so that they don't sink in immediately, but quickly enough so that the icing didn't firm up too much).

Let cookies sit for a couple of hours before stacking. Sometimes I stack them between sheets of wax paper too.

Who We Are

A little country town on the North Shore of Hawaii, makes it a bit hard to eat fresh for a good price..but we found a way. We like to eat our Fruits & Veggies, share yummy recipes & trade Food / Cooking Tricks.